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(No Model.)

G. R. PARKER.

MOWING MACHINE.

No. 408,133. Patented July 30, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO' GARDNER R. PARKER, OF \VORCESTER,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE RICHARDSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OFSAhilE PLACE.

MOWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 108,133, dated July 30,1889.

Application filed June 11, 1888. Serial No. 276,712. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GARDNER R. PARKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at WVoreester, in the county of NVorcester and State ofMassacl'iusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMowing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, which, in connection with thedrawings, making a part of this specification, will enable othersskilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to harvesting machines, and more particularly tomowing-machines.

. The object of my invention is to lighten the draft of amowing-machine, and more particularly to lessen the draft of the insideshoe and the fin ger-bar upon the ground and throw the weight of thesame upon the axle or main partof the mowinganachine when the machine isin operation, and thus overcome to a great extent the side draft of themachine and cause it to operate in a more satisfactory manner; and myinvention consists in certain novel features of construction andarrangement of devices applied to a mowing-machine to accomplish theresult above set forth,and more particularly in combining with thelifting-lever of the mowing-maehine and the parts connected therewith astrong spiral spring, and with the inside shoe and hinged bar a secondstrong spiral spring, the combined action of which is to lessen thedraft of the inside shoe and of the finger bar and throw the weight ofthe same upon the main part of the machine when it is in operation, aswill be hereinafter fully described, and the nature thereof indicated bythe claim.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my improvements applied to awell-known form of mowing-machine.

Figure 1 shows a rear view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a detail view, onan enlarged scale, of the inside shoe. Fig. 3 is a detail view of aportion of the lifting-lever and parts connected therewith, and Fig.etis thelever stand or support detached.

As the mowing-machine shown in the drawings is of well-knownconstruction and operation, it will only be necessary to describe theparts thereof which are connected with and relate to my improvements.

A stand or casting 1 is bolted to the frame of the machine, upon theouter side of which is supported the lifting-lever2,provided with dog 3,rod 4, and pivoted handle 5 for operating said dog and disconnecting thesame from the holding-notch (3 in the rear upper projecting edge of thestand 1.

To the lower end of the lifting-lever 2 is secured the segment or chaincam 7, of any ordinary construction, to which one end of the chain 8 issecured. chain is secured to the hinged coupling-bar 9, of usualconstruction, and which is hinged at its inner end to the frame of themachine and at its outer end to the shoe 10 between standards 11(see-Fig. 2) in the ordinary way. The front brace (not shown) of thehinged bar 9 is hinged at its outer end between the ears 20 on the shoe10, just at the rear of the lead-wheel 21,in the ordinary way in theclass of machines to which myinvention is applied From the inner face ofthe stand 1 extends a stud 12, on which is supported a strong coiledspring 13, the upper end 13' of which strikes and bears against a luglet on the lever 2, or 011 the upper part of the chain-cam 7, and thelower end 13 of which extends into a slot 15 in the stand 1 and bearsagainst said stand.

. The upper edge of the stand 1, upon which the dog 3, attached to theliftingleverB, slides when said lever is moved back and forth, is madefree from notches to engage said dog, so as to allow the same to slidefreely thereon, except near the front edge of said stand 1, where thereis a stop-notch 6 to engage the dog 3 and to prevent the lever 2 fromgoing too far forward against the action of the spring 13 in case of theshoe 10 entering a depression or hole in the ground. There is also aholding-notch 6' in the rear projecting edge of the stand 1, into whichthe dog 3 enters The other end of said the lifting-lever 2 in an uprightposition and within easy reach of the operator when the machine is inoperation, and through chaincam 7, chain 8, and hinged bar 9 to tend toraise the inside shoe 10, carrying the inner end of the finger-bar, fromthe ground, and thus lessen the draft of the same and throw the Weightthereof upon the main part of the machine. The absence of notches in thetop edge of stand 1 and the smooth rim between the stop-notch 6 andholding-notch 6 allows the dog 3 to slide freely thereon,and thelifting-lever 2 to move forward and back, and the shoe 10, supportingthe inner end of the finger-bar 19, to follow any undulations orunevenness in the ground, the spring 13 tendin g to lessen the weightand draft of the same, as above set forth.

In the rear part of the shoe 10 is arranged a small bearing-wheel 16,which assists in supporting the rear part of the shoe. The inner end ofthe finger-bar 19 is supported upon the rear part of the shoe 10 betweenthe stands 11 in the ordinary way, and is rigidly secured to the shoe bymeans of bolts or otherwise. The rear part of the shoe 10 extends inwardfrom the end of the finger-bar 19, secured thereto, and projects underthe outer end of the hinged bar 9, (see Fig. 1,) and is provided with astud 17, which projects up from the shoe under the hinged bar 9 and actsby striking against the bar 9 as a gag-iron or stop to prevent the shoe10 from tilting over too far on its hinged connection with the bar 9 andthe finger-bar 19, secured to the shoe, from dropping down too far.

The striking of the upper end of the stud 17 against the lower side ofthe hinged bar 9, as above described, will limit the downward motion ofthe finger-bar 19, rigidly secured at its inner end to the shoe 10,which is connected by a hinged joint with the bar 9, but will not in anyway interfere with the upward motion or the raising of the fingerbar andalso of the shoe.

Encircling the gag-iron or stud 17 is a spiral spring 18, the lower endof which bears against and is preferably secured to theinwardly-projecting part of the shoe 10, and the upper end of whichbears against the under side of the hinged bar 9 at its outer end. (SeeFig. 1.) The spring 18 acts as an elastic cushion interposed between theinner rear part of the shoe and the hinged bar 9, that is within thehinge-joint of said shoe and bar, and gives a springy or yielding motionto the finger-bar by means of its hinged connection through the shoe 10with the bar 9. The

spring 18 also act-s to tilt up the outer edge or side of the shoe 10,and thus to raise the outer free end of the finger-bar 19, securedthereto, and assists in carrying the Weight of the extreme outer end ofthe finger-bar, thus lightening the draft of the machine and obviatingthe side draft occasioned by the weight of the bar dragging on theground. The contractibility of the spring 18, interposed between thehinged bar 9 and the inner rear part of the shoe 10, as above described,is limited by the gag-iron or stud 17, on which said spring is supportedfor the striking of the upper end of the stud 17 against the the underside of the hinged bar 9, as before described, prevents any furthercontraction of the spring, and thus provides for any overweight of thefinger-bar in case the spring is not strong enough to balance the weightthereof.

From the above description it will be readily understood by thoseskilled in the art that the combined action of the two springs 13 an d18 is to tend to raise the entire fin ger-bar and the parts supportedthereon and the inside shoe from the ground and throw the weight thereofonto the main part of the machine, thus obviating to a great extent anyside draft of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

In a mowing machine, the combination, with a stand supported on theframe of the machine, having a stop-notch 6 and a holding-notch 6 in its11 wardl -)ro'ectin ed 'e c p yl J is e and a smooth rim between thenotches, and a stud 12, on which is supported a spiral spring 13,bearing at one end against the lifting-lever pivoted concentrically withthe stud and bearing at the other end on said stand, of thelifting-lever carryinga sliding dog to engage said notches, a chain-camsecured to said lever, and a chain 8, secured to said cam and to thehinged bar 9, and said bar hinged at its lower end to the inside shoe,the fingerbar 19, secured at its inner end to the shoe, and said shoehaving an inwardly-projecting part carrying a stud, and a spiral spring18, supported on said stud and interposed between the lower end of thehinged bar 9 and the projecting part of the shoe, for the purposestated, substantially as set forth.

GARDNER R. PARKER.

Witnesses:

JOHN C. DEWEY, C. M. SOHOEIELD.

